Method and means for readying a yarn coil to be unwound



April 1952 s. FURST ET AL 3,031,149

METHOD AND MEANS FOR READYING A YARN COIL TO BE UNWOUND Filed July 25, 1958 s Sheets-Sheet 1 April 24, 1962 s. FURsT ET AL 3,031,149

METHOD AND MEANS FOR READYING A YARN COIL TO BE UNWOUND Filed July 25, 1958 s Sheets-Sheet 2 mm A m H i T 1 yo /4 W 3 9/ 7r 4 ....14,.H.. rllmw 5 g t; v d :0 0 0 ad \HMR| 7T M 1 f m 3 I1. V] F 5 3 E J 5 1| 0 2 0/ 5 Q 1 M, W v 7 v z B F 2 1 a 5 5 1 0 MN m z 16 In m \0! MT! April 24, 1962 FURST ET AL 3,031,149

METHOD AND MEANS FOR READYING A YARN COIL TO BE UNWOUND Filed July 25, 1958 3 Sheets-sheaf. 3

l I ll vvv United States Patent @filice 3,031,149 Patented Apr. 24, 1962 3,031,149 METHQD AND MEANS FUR READYING A YARN COIL TO BE UNWQUND Stefan Fiirst, Monchen-Gladhach, Germany, and Walter Reiners, Peter Nonnenmuhlen Alice 54, Monchen-Gladbath, Germany, assignors to Walter Reiuers, Monchen- Gladhach, Germany Filed July 23, M58, Ser. No. 750,381 Claims priority, application Germany July 29, 1957 15 Claims. (Cl. 242-35.6)

Our invention relates to the processing of yarn coils in textile manufacture and particularly to methods and means for seeking and preparing the yarn ends of a coil, preferably a cop as it comes from the spinning machine, prior to using the coil in an automatic machine for re winding the yarn into larger yarn packages, or in a weaving loom or other yarn fabricating machinery.

While the invention is applicable to yarn coils of various types and shapes, it will be hereinafter described mainly with reference to the readying of spinning cops having a body of yarn wound onto a tubular core whose foot end is thicker than the tip and on which the inner end portion of the yarn lies close to the core and beneath the body of yarn, whereas the outer yarn end extends from the surface of the yarn body to the core foot upon which the yarn end is coiled up in a few turns to form a reserve winding." With such spinning cops the reliable seeking, seizing and conveying of the outer yarn end is particularly diflicult. This is because the first-wound, inner yarn end of the cop extends out of the yarn body close to the core and protrudes freely from the foot in a length of about one inch for example, and the last-wound, outer yarn end extends from the reserve Winding on the foot likewise away from the core so that both yarn ends are often entangled or intertwined.

It is an object of our invention to provide a simple and reliable method and means for disentangling such yarn ends and gripping the outer yarn end so as to hold it or place it in a given ready position where it can reliably be found, seized and conveyed without interference by the inner yarn end, for further processing of the coil.

To achieve this object, and in accordance with one of the features of our invention, the cop is first placed, manually or by mechanical conveying means, into a readying position; then the two yarn ends are pulled away from the core foot of the yarn coil by suction so as to separate them from each other. At the same time, the surface of the yarn body on the cop is kept in engagement with an abutment or stop so that the outer yarn end is laid open and wound off the cop by the suction effect only up to a given length limited by the stop. Thereafter the outer yarn end is seized or clamped, and the inner yarn end is shortened so that it can no longer interfere with the outer yarn end. After shortening the inner yarn end, the cop is released from its readying position and is passed to a new position while the outer yarn end is still being held captive. As a result, the outer yarn end will extend a sufiiciently great distance and in a predetermined position away from the shortened inner yarn end, so that the subsequent seeking or conveying of the outer end can be performed more easily and reliably than heretofore possible. The new position into which the cop will pass while its outer yarn end is still captive, may be located in a magazine for a single coil or for several coils, such as a magazine box having a number of compartments each comprising a plurality of cops.

The above-described seizing or clamping of the outer yarn end can be effected by mechanical gripping or clamping, or by means of an air current such as by suction.

The current of suction air used for pulling the original yarn ends away from the cop and for unwinding a given length of the outer yarn end need be active or at full strength only for a limited period of time. That is, the suction acting upon the coil or its yarn ends may be weakened or stopped shortly after the inner yarn end is shortened and the outer yarn end is seized. However,

if the seizing of the outer yarn is also effected by means of an air current, then the latter air current is to be maintained at full strength also after severing the inner yarn end.

As mentioned, after termination of the yarn end separating, shortening and clamping operations, the coil is transferred from the readying position to a new position, for example the position in which the yarn is to be repackaged on an automatic winding machine. During such transfer particularly when thin yarn is being processed, there is the danger that the yarn may break if too much tension is imposed upon the yarn end extending to the clamping location. This is so because during travel of the coil away from the readying position, the coil must turn about its longitudinal axis to release an additional length of yarn, but the friction of the coil on the slide or other conveying surface may become so great that the tensile strength of the yarn is no longer sufficient to thus turn the coil. According to another feature of our invention, however, such danger is eliminated by applying to the coil, during its transfer, an external driving force which rotates the coil as it travels to the new position.

The invention is applicable in machines which serve only for the purpose of performing preparatory work, for example for the purpose of readying the spinning cops as they come from the spinning machine for their subsequent use in an automatic coil-winding machine. For this purpose, the coil-winding machine or its individual winding stations may be given respective magazines in which the spinning cops are collected and the yarn from the cops is kept in a ready position. However, the invention is also applicable to equal advantage by employing the method separately at each individual winding station of a multi-station machine. Generally, the invention becomes more advantageous with increasing extent of automation of coil-winding or processing machines.

Due to the automating of textile fabricating operations, the attendant personnel is present at each individual machine for a much shorter interval of time than otherwise. Consequently, any fault that may creep into the operation may esult in causing standstill of the machine for a correspondingly longer period of time, whereas the removal of a faulty coil from the machine operation permits the machine to immediately resume its performance. With such automatic operations it is desirable that a newly processed coil, in the event of fault, for example upon failure of the yarn end seeking operation, be automatically discarded from the readying position in order to permit immediate continuance of the machine operation. Generally, such machines are provided with automatic devices which eliminate depleted cores as soon as the yarn of the spinning cop is consumed. According to another feature of the present invention we use a device for such doffing of empty cores also for the purpose of discarding any full cops that are faulty or have passed through the yarn-seeking and readying operation without the desired results.

According to a more specific feature we further provide a coiled-winding machine with means for separating full but faulty coils from depleted cores before such discards are conveyed away from the machine. More specifically, we provide at each winding station a sorting device capable of separating empty cores or quills from discarded full coils. However, if desired, the full but discarded coils may be first supplied to a collecting container; and such containers, coming from several machines, may then be taken to a readying station where the cops are inspected and, if necessary, so prepared as to be suitable for renewed introduction into the winding operation.

An apparatus according to our invention, for performing the above-described method, comprises holding means for accommodating at least one coil, for example, a cop, in a readying position, further a vacuum or suction device that can be placed into proximity to one axial end of the coil, and a stop or abutment structure which engages the surface of the body of yarn for limiting the amount up to which the yarn end can be unwound by the suction device. The apparatus further comprises a severing device for shortening the inner yarn end located close to the coil core, and a holding or clamping device for seizing the outer yarn end to be unwound, the latter device being located or insertable at a point between the suction device and the body of the coil to be processed.

According to another, more specific feature of our invention, the severing device for shortening the inner yarn end and the holding device for the outer yarn end are combined to form a single mechanism. We found that such a combined severing-clamping device is particularly advantageous if given the design of a pair of scissors which has a cutting-edge portion and a blunt clamping portion. The scissors-type device is preferably connected with a valve for controlling the current of suction air in the conduit of the above-mentioned suction device so that the valve opens and closes, at least partially, together with the corresponding actuation of the severing-clamping device.

The foregoing and more specific objects, advantages and features of our invention will be apparent from, and will be mentioned in, the following description of the embodiments of the invention illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically four sequential steps of a readying operation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic lateral view of an automatic coilwinding machine which includes a readying apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of some of the components of the machine shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a lateral view of another coil-winding machine equipped with sorting and conveying devices.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a detail from FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modification of the device shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates a circuit diagram for the electrical components of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Illustrated in the readying position I of FIG. 1 is a spinning cop as it comes from the spinning machine. The cop 1 comprises a body of yarn wound onto a tubular core or quill which has a protruding tip at In and has a radially thicker foot portion 1b at the other end. The starting end of the yarn wound onto the core is denoted by b. This inner end protrudes toward the left approximately one inch or more away from the body of yarn which is wound onto and over the starting portion of the yarn. The yarn body forms a conical taper at 10 near the tip 1a from which the last wound length of yarn extends in a few steeply pitched turns 1d over the periphery of the main body toward the foot 1b where a number of turns are wound onto the foot portion to form a reserve winding. The ultimate, outer end extending away from the reserve winding is denoted by a. The inner and outer yarn ends a, b are often entangled with each other.

In position II of FIG. 1, a suction nozzle 2 is moved from the left toward the foot of the cop so as to form an annular nozzle opening together therewith. The cop 1 rests upon a support or stop 3 which engages the yarn to be unwound from the cop, and thus limits the extent of such unwinding.

The nozzle 2 is connected to a suction conduit 2a under control by a valve 2b which is actuated by an arm linked together with a cutting device 4 by a rod 419. The

cutter 4 has a pivot 4a at a fixed location near the nozzle 2 when the latter is in the readying position as shown at II.

With cop 1 and nozzle 2 located as shown at II, the opening of valve 2b causes a suction current of air to be drawn into the annular nozzle space with the effect of pulling the yarn ends a and b away from the cop foot. As a result, the reserve winding 1b is dissolved and part of the steeply pitched adjacent yarn portion id is unwound up to the point determined by the stop 3.

After the yarn end a is thus pulled off, the suction nozzle 2 is axially displaced toward the left a short distance away from the cop, and the scissors-type cutter 4 is now inserted as is shown in position III of FIG. 1. The tip portion of the scissors is designed as a clamp which merely seizes and holds the outer yarn end a, whereas the upper portion of the scissors acts as a cutter and thus shortens the inner yarn end b.

After the cutting operation, the cop, in position IV of FIG. 1 glides downwardly along an inclined slideway 6, while the outer yarn end a remains held in the clamping portion of cutter 4.

The above-described operation is embodied in the performance of the automatic coil-winding machine illustrated in FIG. 2. This machine serves to wind a large yarn package 17, such as a cross-wound coil, from a number of spinning cops. After depletion of a cop, the yarn supplied by the next following cop must first be tied together with the end of the yarn already wound up on the larger yarn package to be produced, before the winding operation is continued and repeated until the new package has the desired quantity of yarn.

The cops 1 to serve as yarn supply are accommodated within a magazine 7. The lowermost cop rests upon transverse rods 8, 9 (FIGS. 2, 3, 4) which form part of a locking device and can be displaced horizontally out of the magazine space to release the lowermost cop which then drops to the readying position beneath the rods 8 and 9. FIG. 2 shows one cop just released from the magazine and supported on the stop structure 3 as well as on the top end of the inclined slide 6 mentioned above with reference to FIG. 1. While cop 1 occupies this position, a suction tube 2, pivotally mounted at 2d, is turned clockwise away from position 2' until its suction nozzle surrounds the cop foot as explained with reference to position II in FIG. 1. The nozzle 2 then dissolves the reserve winding from the cop foot also as described above, and the scissors 4 become thereafter active to cut the inner yarn end b while clamping the outer end a.

When thereafter the cop is released, it slides downward along slide 6 through the position denoted by 1. The outer yarn end now passing from the cop to the clamping portion 5 of the cutter 4 is denoted by a. At the end of its downward travel, the tubular core of the cop is speared onto a mandrel 11 mounted on a holder 11a pivoted at 11b. By means of holder 11a the cop is thereafter turned to the position denoted by I". Now the cop is ready to operate as a supply coil for the automatic winding means mounted on the machine frame 10.

After the yarn F from the cop, now in position 1", is tied together, in the manner described below, with the yarn end coming from the take-up spool 17, the yarn F extends from cop 1" over a guard or feeler member 13 pivoted at 13a and biased into engagement with the yarn. Thence the yarn passes through a tensioner 14, along another yarn guard or feeler 15 pivoted at 15a, and over a yarn guiding drum 16 onto the take-up spool 17. The take-up spool 17 is rotatably mounted on a frame structure 18 pivoted to the machine frame 10 at 18a.

During operation of the machine, the shaft 16a of the yarn guide 16 is driven at constant speed and entrains the take-up spool 17 since the latter, under its own weight and the weight of the frame structure 18, rests against the periphery of the guiding drum 16; and the drum 16 is simultaneously operative in the known manner to reciprocate the oncoming yarn axially along the take-up spool 17 in order to produce the desired cross-Wound yarn package.

If the yarn breaks or the supply coil becomes depleted, one or both of the guards l3 and 15, under their bias, defiect from theillustrated positions and thus control the drive of the winder shaft 16am stop. Now a suction arm 19, pivoted at 19a to the machine structure and having a suction nozzle at 1912 that extends along spool 17, becomes eiiective to seize the yarn end from spool 17 and to suck some length of yarn into the suction arm. Thereafter the arm 19 turns clockwise about its pivot 1% along a circular path 2% thus placing the yarn end of spool 17 in front of a knotter 12. In a similar manner, the yarn end coming from the supply coil 1" is seized and conveyed toward the knotter 12 along a circular path at 21. This is done by another suction tube 22 pivoted at 22a.

Details in design and operation of the cutter 4 are shown in FIG. 3. The cutter 4 is driven from a shaft 23 frictionally coupled with the scissors control lever 24. Lever 24 is joined with an arm 25 engageable with two limiting stops 26 and 27. The drive for the cutter shaft 23 is located within a housing 28 on which an arm 29 is pivotaily mounted. Arm 29 is connected by a linking rod 3% with a lock control lever 31 pivoted at 33. The abovementioned locking rods 8, 9 as well as the stop 3 are linked to the lever 31. Another locking rod 32 is fastened to linking rod 30. When the arm 31 turns clockwise about pivot 33, the rods 8, 9 release the lowermost cop from the magazine 7 while the rod 32 passes into the magazine beneath the next upper cop, thus retaining all other cops in the magazine.

The operation of the device according to the invention, forming part of the machine described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, is as follows.

At the commencement of the readying operation, the lowermost cop 1 in the magazine '7, resting upon stop 3, is first approached by the suction nozzle 2 which places itself about the cop foot and then operates to pull off the outer yarn end a while straightening the inner yarn end i) as described above. Thereafter, the suction nozzle 2 turns to position 2' so that the cutter 4 can enter between the suction nozzle 2 and the foot of cop 1. The cutter 4 shortens the inner end 5 of the cop. The clamping portion 5 of the cutter seizes the outer yarn end a and keeps it arrested.

The cop then remains in position on stop 3 until it is called upon to substitute a previously depleted yarnsupplying cop in the coil-winding machine. This is done by operation of the lever 33 which removes the stop 3 from the lowermost cop so that the cop 1 now drops along inclined slide 6 through the position 1 onto the mandrel 11. The mandrel 11 then transfers the cop into the position 1". The yarn end is then located between the cop 1", the clamp 5 and the suction nozzle 2. Hence, the yarn end is now placed at a given location, namely between clamp 5 and the suction tube now in position 2, whence it can be seized by the suction arm 22 and conveyed to the knotter 12. The suction arm 22 now turns downwardly along the circular path 21 and seizes the yarn end before the arm returns upwardly to convey the yarn end to the knotter (see, for example, German Patent 923,4). Shortly prior to moment of seizure, the clamp 5 is opened so that the suction tube 22 can freely entrain the yarn end toward the knotter 12.

During operation of the cutter 4, the cutter shaft 23 is first turned clockwise and the entire scissors device is turned in the same sense until the arm abuts against stop 27. This determines the lowermost position of the cutter 4. While the cutter shaft 23 continues rotating clockwise, the scissors part driven by lever 24 is turned counterclockwise so that the cutter scissors are closed. During return movement of the lever '24, the cutter 4 is first moved back into the position shown in FIG. 3 until the arm 25 abuts against stop 26. During further re- 6 turn movement of arm 25, the scissors mechanism is again opened.

The release of the spinning cop 1 in the magazine 7 by the locking rods 8 and 9, the stop 3 and the locking rod 32 is controlled by counterclockwise movement of arm 29. During such movement, the stop 3 is pulled toward the right (FIG. 3) so that the lowermost cop 1 drops out of the magazine 7. An untimely release of the next upper cop 1 is prevented by the rod 32. However, the third upper cop can drop onto the locking rods 8 and 9 as soon as the rod 32 moves back toward the left.

During movement of arm 29 in the clockwise sense, the stop 3 again shifts toward the left, whereas the lock ing rods 8, 9 move toward the right so that the spinning cop still located in the second lowest position is released by rod 9 and drops onto the stop 3. At the same time, the locking rod 32 passes beneath the next upper cop. Thereafter, the arm 29 is returned into the mid-position shown in FIG. 3, so that the cop located on rod 32 can now drop onto rods 8, 9.

According to a further feature of our invention, we provide beneath the unwinding location of the yarn supply coil of a winding machine a sorting device which tests a doifed coil as to whether it still contains a quantity of yarn satisfactory for the winding operation. The sorting device may consist of two parallel, endless conveyor belts inclined toward each other to form a trough and spaced from each other a distance so dimensioned that an empty core may drop through whereas a coil still containing a body of yarn is retained on the belts. Such a coil is entrained upwardly by the conveyor belts and is thus forwarded to a container from which the coils, after inspection or further preparation if necessary, can be again introduced into the readying device.

The winding machine shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 embodies the just-mentioned features.

According to FIG. 4, the cops are supplied not from a magazine but by means of a conveyor chain 34 travelling along the machine. Built into the inclined slide 6 is a drive 35 which carries a driving roller 36 protruding upwardly through an opening in slide 6. The slide 6 has a longitudinal slot 37 and can be turned about a pivot 38 to the position illustrated by dot-and-dash lines at 39. Such pivotal motion is imparted to the slide 6 by a linking rod 40 which connects the bottom end of slide 6 with an angular double-armed lever 41, 42, rotatably mounted on a pivot pin 43. Located beneath the supply coil l" is a lifting conveyor which comprises two parallel and mutually spaced conveyor belts 44 and two guide rollers 45 and 46 (FIGS. 4, 5). The conveyor belts 44 carry entrainer dogs 47 and may be slightly inclined relative to each other so that the pair of belts form a trough which prevents the cops from dropping laterally ofi the belts. The guide roller 46 is driven by a worm gear 43, a Worm 49 and a spur gearing 50 from a motor 51. The same motor drives through a spur gear 52, a conveyor belt 53 for removing the empty cores or quills. Such an empty core, just dropping through slot 37 onto the conveyor 53, is illustrated by dot-and-dash lines at 54'. The conveyor belt 53 is located at the bottom of a funnel structure formed of sheets 55 and 56 which guide the dropping cores onto the belt. A container 57 is provided for receiving cops 1" that were sorted out because defective.

After a cop is supplied by conveyor chain 34, the seeking and seizing of the yarn ends a and b is effected in the manner explained above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. However, while the cop drops from the support 3 onto the slide 6, the driving roller 36 imparts a limited rotary movement to the cop so that the yarn end a can roll ofi without tension.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 is further provided with a device which automatically separates from the depleted cores those supply coils whose starting end was not found and seized by the above-described devices. When a spinning cop 1 is speared onto the mandrel 11 and placed into the position It", the yarn F coming from this cop is knotted together with the yarn end from the take-up spool 1'7. The yarn guard or feeler 13 responds to presence or absence of yarn between supply coil 1" and ten sioner. When the yarn guard 13 does signal the absence of yarn after the knotter 12 has completed its operation, the guard again initiates a coil-exchanging operation in known manner. The supply coil 1" is then pressed up warclly by a. lever 42 so as to strip the cop oif the mandrel 11. At the same time the slide 6 is displaced to the position 39 by operation of lever 41 and linking rod 4d. As a result, the dotted supply coil 1" drops into the position 1". The cop is then located on the trough formed by the two parallel conveyor belts 44 whose mutual spacing is so dimensioned that an empty core or quill 54 may drop through, whereas a full cop is entrained by the dogs 47. The dogs 4'7 move the supply coil 1" upwardly and discard it into the container 57. The empty cores, however, drop onto the conveyor 53 as described above and are removed from the machine. in this manner, any supply coils whose starting end could not be properly located, are not mixed together with empty cores but remain at a predetermined location so that they can be again placed into the machine by hand or mechanically. For example, an attendant may take the coils from container 57, place the unwound length of yarn manually back onto the core foot, and thereafter place the coil into the magazine or feeder conveyor of the coil-Winding machine or readying device. This requires but little time, eliminates collecting the coils in large containers, and saves an appreciable amount of conveying work otherwise necessary. It further permits observing each particular winding station or readying device so that it becomes readily apparent if a particular machine or station exhibits an excessive number of faults. Furthermore, the yarn material to be unwound remains located at the station to which this particular yarn was originally assigned, this being of advantage in cases where different yarns are being processed within the same shop.

The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments above described. For example, aside from using the invention in connection with automatic coil-winding machines, it may also be used to similar advantage in devices designed only for readying purposes. Thus, a coil whose yarn ends are sought and laid ready by the method and means described above may also be processed in this manner While remaining in a magazine position or readying position outside of a coil-winding machine.

According to another feature of our invention, a suction tube which seeks the yarn ends in the manner described with reference to nozzle tube 2 in the above-described embodiments, may also operate to convey the outer yarn end to the ready position, magazine position, or to the knotter. With such a design and operation, the provision of a separate gripper 22 can be dispensed with. A suction nozzle provided with a hook or barb is particularly suitable for the purpose of seeking and seizing the yarn as well as conveying it in the manner just mentioned.

According to still another feature, the severing and claming member represented in the above-described embodiment by a scissors-type cutter, can be mounted on the suction tube 22 which simultaneously operates as a gripper and conveyor. Such a design is particularly advantageous in cases where the occurrence of thread breaks is rare, for example when operating with cell wool, nylon or similar synthetic materials. The suction gripper 22 is then called upon to move only from the clamping-severing position to the knotter and back.

To do this in the embodiment otherwise designed in accordance with FIG. 2, the gripper tube 22 would have to turn about the axis denoted by 60. In this case the scissors-type cuter is designed according to FIG. 6. An arm of the gripper tube 22 carries an angle piece 62, the scissors device 4 and the appertaining components. When the gripper 22 is turned into the severing-clamping position, the stop portion 63 of the scissors lever 24 abuts against an entrainer 65. The scissors lever 24 in this case is connected by a spring 64 with the stop lever 25, but both are rotatable about the pivot 23. Due to abutment of the stop lever 25 against the stop pin 26, the scissors device 4 is turned to a position between suction tube and coil, and due to abutment of the lever 24 against the stop 63, the scissors are closed. When the gripper tube 22 turns upward to the knotter, the yarn is entrained toward the linotter.

According to the circuit diagram of FIG. 7, as soon as the closed contact of arm 86 is opened due to the clockwise rotation of this arm, the relay 37 drops and closes its contact, thus preparing a circuit for the current source 3-2. This circuit can also be prepared by closing of contact 33 of the yarn feeler (FIG. 2) in response to absence of the yarn. However, the circuit remains interrupted at contact Only when the arm 36 touches the screw 86a will the circuit from the source 82 through the magnet 88 be completed. The magnet 83 then turns the lever 11a (FIG. 2) clockwise and dofis the completed coil. The same magnet 88 then also closes the contact 85. This causes a current to flow from the source 82 through the magnet 81 and the magnet 84. The magnet 81 turns the frame 85 at the supply-coil holding thorn 11 in the clockwise direction about pivot lib so that the coil 1 can glide down onto the thorn 11. The magnet 34 opens the lock 3, 8, 9 (FIG. 3) in order to permit another coil 1 to pass out of the magazine 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electric circuit extends from the screw 86a to the magnet coil 83 through the electrically conducting angular lever which is pivoted at 11b and carries the screw 86a, one end of magnet coil 88 being shown connected with this angular lever, whereas the other end is connected with current source 82.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, upon studying this disclosure, that our invention permits of a great variety of modifications and particular applications and hence may be embodied in apparatus other than those particularly illustrated and described herein, without departing from the essential features of our invention and within the scope of the claims annexed hereto.

We claim:

1. The method of readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, which comprises the steps of placing the yarn coil into a readying position with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one axial side of the coil, subjecting the coil at said side to an air current directed axially away from the coil and thus entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil to keep them separate from each other and unwind the outer yarn end from the coil, stopping at the coil periphery the outer yarn end bein unwound so as to unwind only a limited length of yarn, shortening the inner yarn end and seizing the outer yarn end, and thereafter transferring the coil to a new position away from the readying position while still keeping the outer yarn end seized at the readying position, whereby a further amount of yarn is unwound and the unwound yarn is placed in position for subsequent processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

2. The method of readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, which comprises the steps of placing the yarn coil into a readying position with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one axial side of the coil, subjecting the coil at said side to a suction nozzle having a suction current directed axially away from the coil for pulling the inner and outer yarn ends away from the coil whereby the outer yarn end is kept separate from the inner end and is wound off the coil, stopping the unwinding at a given point of the coil periphery so that only a limited portion of yarn is unwound, shortening the inner yarn end and clamping the outer yarn end between the coil and the nozzle, thereafter releasing the coil from the readying position and causing it to drop to a new position beneath the readying position while still keeping the outer yarn end clamped, whereby a further amount of yarn is unwound and the unwound yarn is placed in position for subsequent processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

3. The method of readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, which comprises the steps of placing the yarn coil into a readying position with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one axial side of the coil, subjecting the coil at said side to a current of suction air directed axially away from the coil and thus entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil to keep them separate from each other and unwind the outer yarn end from the coil, stopping at the coil periphery the yarn end being unwound so as to unwind only a limited length of yarn, shortening the inner yarn end and seizing the outer yarn end, transferring the coil, with the outer yarn end kept seized, to a new position and causing the coil during transfer to rotate about its axis in the unwinding direction, whereby a further amount of yarn is unwound and the unwound yarn is placed in position for subsequent processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

4. The method of readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, which comprises the steps of placing the yarn coil into a readying position with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one axial side of the coil, subjecting the coil at said side to a current of suction air directed axially away from the coil and thus entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil to keep them separate from each other and unwind the outer yarn end from the coil, stopping at the coil periphery the yarn end being unwound so as to unwind only a limited length of yarn, shortening theinner yarn end and seizing the outer yarn end, then reducing the suction current to substantially stop the sucking effect, terminating the yarn-stopping operation, and releasing the coil from the readying position to permit the coil to move under its own weight to a new position while keeping the outer yarn end seized at the readying position, whereby a further amount of yarn is unwound and the unwound yarn is placed in position for subsequent processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

5. Apparatus for readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, comprising supporting means defining a readying position and adapted to receive the yarn coil with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one side of said supporting means, air-current nozzle means movable at said side into active proximity with the coil in said readying position and having an aircurrent direction away from said coil for entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil so as to keep them separate from each other while pulling and unwinding the outer yarn end, said supporting means having a stop structure engageable with the coil at the periphery thereof for limiting the unwinding to a given length of yarn, severing means engageahle with the inner yarn end for shortening it, arresting means engageable with the outer yarn end for seizing it, said severing and arresting means being located between said nozzle means and the coil when the coil is in said readying position, control means connected with said supporting means for controlling the latter to release the coil to travel away from said readying position, and supporting structure defining a new position for the coil released from said readying position, whereby the travel of the coil from said readying position to said new position causes a given total length of yarn to be unwound and placed into position for further processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

6. Apparatus for readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, comprising supporting means defining a readying position and adapted to receive the yarn coil with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one side of said supporting means, air-current nozzle means movable at said side into active proximity to the coil in said readying position and having an air-current direction away from said coil for entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil so as to keep them separate from each other while pulling and unwinding the outer yarn end, said supporting means having a stop structure engageable with the coil at the periphery thereof for limiting the unwinding to a given length of yarn, a mechanism having a cutting portion and a clamping portion engageable with said separated inner and outer ends respectively for shortening the inner end and clamping the outer end when the coil is in said readying position, control means connected with said supporting means for controlling the latter to release the coil to travel away from said readying position, and supporting structure defining a new position for the coil released from said readying position, whereby the travel of the coil from said readying position to said new position causes a given total length of yarn to be unwound and placed into position for further processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

7. Apparatus for readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, comprising supporting means defining a readying position and adapted to receive the yarn coil with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one side of said supporting means, air-current nozzle means movable at said side into active proximity with the coil in said readying position and having an air-current direction away from said coil for entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil so as to keep them separate from each other while pulling and unwinding the outer yarn end, said supporting means having a stop structure engageable with the coil at the periphery thereof forlimiting the unwinding to a given length of yarn, a scissors-type mechanism movable into the yarn path between said nozzle means and the coil when the coil is in said readying position, said mechanism having a cutting portion engageable with said inner end for shortening it and having a blunt clamping portion engageable with the outer yarn end for clamping it, control means connected with said supporting means for controliing the latter to release the coil to travel away from said readying position, said control means being also connected with said mechanism for maintaining it actuated during travel of the coil, and supporting structure defining a new position for the coil released from said readying position, whereby the travel of the coil from said readying position to said new position causes a given total length of yarn to be unwound and placed into position for further processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

8. Apparatus for readying a yarn coil for subsequent unwinding in textile manufacture, comprising supporting means defining a readying position and adapted to receive the yarn coil with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one side of said supporting means, air-current nozzle means movable at said side into active proximity with the coil in said readying position and having an air-current direction away from said coil for entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil so as to keep them separate from each other while pulling and unwinding the outer yarn end, said supporting means having a stop structure engageable with the coil at the periphery thereof for limiting the unwinding to a given length of yarn, a suction conduit connected with said nozzle means, a valve in said conduit for controlling the air current, a mechanism having a cutting portion and a clamping portion engageable with said separated inner and outer ends respectively for shortening the inner end and clamping the outer end when the coil is in said readying position, said supporting means being displaceable for releasing the coil from said readying position, and supporting structure defining a new position for the coil released from said readying position, whereby the travel of the coil from said readying position to said new position causes a given total length of yarn to be unwound and placed into position for further processing without interference by the inner yarn end.

9. Coil-readying apparatus according to claim 5, comprising conveying means located beneath said readying position and forming a downwardly inclined travel path for the coil from said readying position to said new position.

10. In coil-readying apparatus according to claim 5, said new position being located beneath said readying position, and a slide structure extending from said readying position to said new position to form a travel path for the coil, said slide structure being downwardly inclined from the side of the readying position remote from said nozzle means.

11. In coil-readying apparatus according to claim 5, said new position being located beneath said readying position, and a slide structure extending downwardly inclined from said readying position to said new position and forming a travel path for the coil, said slide structure having an opening along said path, a drive having a roller protruding through said opening into said path, said roller having a plane of rotation transverse to said path and being engageable with the coil travelling along said path for frictionally rotating the coil in the unwinding sense.

12. In a machine for winding 2. yarn pacltagefrom supply coils, having take-up winder means, a holder for a yarn-supply coil spaced from said winder means, a knotter for joining the yarn end coming from said winder means with the yarn of the supply coil, and a coil-readying apparatus, supporting means defining a readying position in said apparatus and adapted to receive the yarn coil with the inner yarn end of the coil exposed at one side of said supporting means, air-current nozzle means movable at said side into active proximity with the coil in said readying position and having an air-current direction away from said coil for entraining the inner and outer yarn ends of the coil so as to keep them separate from each other while pulling and unwinding the outer yarn end, said supporting means having a stop structure engageable with the coil at the periphery thereof for limiting the unwinding to a given length of yarn, severing means engageable with the inner yarn end for shortening it, arresting means engageable with the outer yarn end for seizing it, said severing and arresting means being located between said nozzle means and the coil when the coil is in said readying position, control means connected with said supporting means for controlling the latter to release the coil to travel away from said readying position onto said coil holder, whereby the travel of the coil to said holder causes a given total length of yarn to be unwound from the coil and placed into a given access position, and a gripper member engageable with the yarn in said access position and movable toward said knotter for seizing the yarn and passing it to the knotter.

13. In a machine according to claim 12, yarn feeler means responsive to absence of yarn between said holder and said winder means, a doffer device engageable with the coil on said holder for removing it therefrom, said control means being also connected with said dotfer device and said feeler means for causing the coil to be removed from said holder and another coil to be released from said readying position to travel onto said holder.

14. In a machine according to claim 12, yarn feeler means responsive to absence of yarn between said holder and said winder means, a dofier device controlled by said feeler means and engageable with the coil on said holder for removing it therefrom, and a sorting device disposed to receive the dofied coils and adapted to separate depleted coils from coils returnable to said readying position.

15. In a machine according to claim 14, said sorting device comprising two endless belt conveyors extending in upwardly inclined positions and in parallel and laterally spaced relation to each other to form an interspacial gap wider than the diameter of depleted coils but narrower than the diameter of returnable coils whereby only returnable coils are upwardly entrained by said belt conveyors, and collecting means disposed beyond the upper ends of said belt conveyors to receive the returnable coils.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

